Runaway Duchess (London Ladies #1)

A wealthy entrepreneur with a dark past, Gavin Graystone is not looking for love. But he does need a wife. Setting his sights on Charlotte Vanderley, a lady of impeccable breeding - albeit questionable temperament - he makes it clear from the very beginning that emotion will have no place in their relationship. As far as he is concerned marriage is a business contract. Nothing more and nothing less.

Desperate to escape her engagement to the lecherous old Duke of Tarrow, feisty, free-spirited Charlotte jumps at the opportunity to marry Gavin. Running away with him will mean defying one of the most powerful men in all of England, but Charlotte has never let a little adversity - or a surly rogue - stand in her way. Gavin may not be a fairy-tale prince, but he's certainly better than a man three times her age. And he's an excellent kisser.

But marriages of convenience rarely go as planned, and as Charlotte and Gavin embark on a journey that will take them from Gretna Green to the rolling hills of Southampton and the crowded streets of London, they find themselves doing the one thing they both vowed they would never do.

Falling in love.